5am Dublin/Ireland time, 14 November 2023 —
New ICCL reports reveal serious security threat to the EU and US:
-Trade in compromising “RTB” data about leaders and military personnel.
-Google sends sensitive “RTB” data to China and Russia.
Dublin, Ireland — An investigation by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) reveals widespread trade in data about sensitive European and United States personnel and leaders that puts them at risk of blackmail, hacking and compromise, and undermines the security of their organisations and institutions.
ICCL has today published two reports (“Europe’s hidden security crisis” and “America’s hidden security crisis”) that reveal how extraordinarily sensitive information about key EU and US figures and military personnel flows to foreign states and non-state actors through online advertising’s Real-Time Bidding (RTB) system. That system is active on almost all websites and apps.
RTB is an advertising technology that constantly broadcasts sensitive information about people as they use the internet. The data are broadcast to large numbers of other entities without security measures to protect the data.
Flow of sensitive data to China and Russia
Today’s report ‘Europe’s hidden security crisis’ exposes how Google and other RTB firms send EU and US RTB data to Russia and China, where national laws enable security agencies to access the data.
Among the companies that Google sends EU data to is AiData, a Russian data broker that sells data on people in Russia who are frequent visitors to political opposition websites.
Risk to EU and US military personnel and political leaders
ICCL examined tens of thousands of pages of RTB data and discovered targeting data about sensitive US and EU military personnel and politicians, in addition to judges, utilities managers, and other key figures.
Today’s report reveals Cambridge Analytica style psychological profiling of target individuals, as well as their movements, financial problems, mental health problems and vulnerabilities, including whether the target is a likely survivor of sexual abuse.
Foreign states and non-state actors can use RTB to spy on target individuals’ financial problems, mental state and compromising intimate secrets. Even if target individuals use secure devices, data about them can still flow via RTB from personal devices, their friends, family and compromising personal contacts.
Patternz
Today’s reports also reveal “Patternz”, a previously unreported surveillance tool that uses RTB to profile five billion people, including target individuals’ driving routes, and their children. Patternz is marketed by a private company headquartered in Kokhav Ya’ir in Israel.
Speaking today, Dr Johnny Ryan, a Senior Fellow of ICCL, said:
“The RTB industry’s data free-for-all has created a serious national threat. We call on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, European data protection authorities, and the European Commission to urgently act. The industry can not be allowed to put our elected leaders and military personnel at risk.”
Today, ICCL also launches Enforce, a unit that operates globally to push technology back to democratic value. Enforce produced today’s reports. Information at https://iccl.ie/enforce/.
Ends
Notes to editors
- Europe’s hidden security crisis https://iccl.ie/digital-data/europes-hidden-security-crisis/
- America’s hidden security crisis https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/americas-hidden-security-crisis/
Media queries:
- Ruth McCourt, ruth.mccourt@iccl.ie / 087 415 7162
Available for interview:
- Dr Johnny Ryan, Senior Fellow, ICCL
ENDS